


Vulnerability

by lilacnightmares



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Engagement, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28432287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacnightmares/pseuds/lilacnightmares
Summary: Reflecting on the past and the present, Jumin notes that his childhood wasn’t exactly perfect but he’s happy that he lived this circumstance because it led him to someone that genuinely saw his heart.Work from Tumblr.
Relationships: Han Jumin/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Vulnerability

“I’m glad that you managed to get a few days off,” Sun-Hi smiled at him as they walked up the steps to her childhood home. She’d convinced him that they both needed some fresh air after being cooped up in the city for so many, and ever the romantic, Jumin could never say no to his wife whenever she asked a small request of him. 

“It was due time,” he responded. “Besides, it’s always nice to visit your parents. I know you miss them dearly whether you admit it or not.” 

Sun-Hi chuckled. She grasped at his hand as she unlocked the front door, knowing the way inside and that her parents were inspecting them to saunter in prepared for the long weekend they’d been cooking up for a few weeks now. “You always know just how to read me, huh?” she countered.

Jumin smiled. “There’s nothing that I can’t unravel about you, my darling.” 

“Oh? Haha… we’ll have to test that theory later when we’re okay, alright?” 

Jumin Han would tell you that his upbringing wasn’t as glamorous as one may imagine it to be, always very matter-of-fact about what he dealt with as if the wave of his hand took away the gravity of his very deep wounds. They didn’t, though, and whenever Sun-Hi listened to him speak of what he had gone through as a young boy, her heart always twisted. 

He had never had it easy with female figures in his life. 

From day one, he was subjected to everyone treating him like he wasn’t good enough, or that he wasn’t normal enough. He had his interests and ideas about the world as a young child but his mother had taken on look at him and demanded that he act as an ordinary child, even though there was no clear definition of an ordinary child.

Everyone had different tastes and experiences. He once recounted to Sun-Hi how his mother would lock him away in the basement and subject him to play with toys that were made through his father’s company and not to return until he had learned what it meant to be a child. He wasn’t sure what the woman expected from him. 

Jumin had always been acutely more mature and more withdrawn, pulled towards his interests but any time that he expressed his interest to someone that didn’t align with what they expected from him, they’d scold him for it and pressure him to lean towards something else. He kept his hobbies to himself for the most part given the disinterest and volatile reaction he often earned.

It didn’t get any better when his birth mother divorced his father and left. That subjected him to the years of the Chairman’s failed romantic dreams that kept him reaching out deeper and deeper with those that may not have had the best intentions. 

While his father always sought out those with lovely faces, that didn’t mean that they had hearts that matched. 

He could recount the number of times that many of these women would come onto him. Sun-Hi was always hurt when he implied that the harassment started when he was as young as seven years old and when he left it at that, her heart ached for him. He seemed so used to people trying to manipulate and push him around that—

It was no wonder that he had closed off his heart to many people apart from the RFA. 

Why would he want to trust or get close to anyone when everyone around him had always wanted him for his money or his looks? He had recounted himself that Sun-Hi was the first person to look at him and see the person underneath the glamour and idea of Jumin Han instead of just seeing him as Jumin. 

He was a fortunate person to be born with status, but that didn’t mean that he was immune to misfortune. 

He’d know what it felt like to have a lonely heart but instead of letting it show, he masked all of it all down deep inside of his heart as if it were nothing until the day that Sun-Hi untangled his worn and frayed strings. Nobody would have ever known just how tired and downtrodden he was because he never let weakness show. 

Jumin was always holding himself together for the sake of everyone around him. 

The rest of the world may have had the right to break down and cry it out, but Jumin never had that right. At least, he never let himself have that. It wasn’t until Sun-Hi told him that it was okay to cry and that it was okay to open himself up to someone that he ever let himself try. She had seen him show that sweet side that had only been reserved her herself. 

It did turn some heads, but she paid no mind to that. Jumin opening himself up was a step in the right direction. No matter if someone teased him or not, she knew where he started from and she knew how hard he had worked to get to this point. She’d always been open herself because she never had to worry about anyone giving her a side-eye. In comparison to Jumin? 

He was always a charmer in her eyes but to see him share his interests and thoughts? 

Sun-Hi had never seen Jumin look more handsome than when he willingly shared himself with other people, not just herself. There was a lot in his eyes that nobody could take away from him. She knew it was his passion, his vigor, and his ultimate goal. 

Sure, some of his hobbies weren’t what you may have expected but it helped him empathize and relate to the oddest of people that one may never have expected. Like, say, for example, her mother. She never thought that Jumin would gravitate to her mother so easily but it was like they were old friends from the minute that they spoke. 

She’d never seen anything like that. 

Not even with their neighbors and her inner circle of friends. Sun-Hi would say that she was a little jealous but that would be silly. It was obvious that Jumin thought the world of her family and simply wanted to make a good impression every time they visited. It wasn’t just Jumin Han whenever they were in the country, he just Jumin, her fiancé. 

He seemed to revel in that notion a lot more than he let on. It was intriguing for sure to simply be a regular man that nobody would pause to gawk at. He was used to the attention and prying eyes yet being placed on the opposite spectrum granted him the luxury of freedom that he’d never had the chance to taste before. 

It was obvious that Jumin was just itching to try something different. 

She would gladly turn her head whenever he let his true colors show because he, as much as anyone else, deserves a moment to breathe after working so hard all the time. The tension in his shoulders was a heavy burden to carry all the time so being able to let to cast aside from his shoulders and let it fall to the wayside was just what the doctor ordered. 

“Ah, there they are. I wondered when they would arrive. Sun-Hi, I could use your help outside. Could you spare a moment?”

“Of course,” she raveled her arm from Jumin’s and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “You can help mom in the kitchen, right? I’ll be quick.” 

“Take your time,” Jumin affirmed with a smile as she bounced on her heels out of the side door and onto the patio. Sun-Hi was in good spirits as of late and he was happy about that. He knew that she had been homesick so any excuse that he could find to accompany her back to her childhood home was important to him.

His work was purposeful and pointedly hard lately because he had taken the time to try and accrue time off that wouldn’t get in the way of any deals or important mark-ups. He may have put everything on hold for Sun-Hi, but she was the one to bonk him on the arm and let him know that while she loved him and that she appreciated him dropping the ball whenever she needed him—

That meant dumping work off on Jaehee when he did that out of the blue and she was passionately dedicated to ensuring that he didn’t do that. Of course, not, thanks to Sun-Hi his assistant was getting breaks more often. Though she was the one that had found a suitable sitter for Elizabeth and he could give her credit for that. 

His trust in others was fairly low but anyone that Assistant Kang checked into, he knew could trust with his faith. 

Pausing in the doorway as he headed towards the kitchen, he passed numerous photos and chuckled at some. It was nice to see Sun-Hi in a light that he never got the chance to. He pondered her childhood often as she had such a different experience than him, growing up in such a quiet environment where she had all the time in her world to mature at her own pace.

She had a witty mind, of course, and a giving spirit but he knew that he could commend her parents for their dedication to expending the time to show her the warmth of kindness and love. He knew that his experience wasn’t quite such as broad growing up, but seeing it through with Sun-Hi let him have that back. 

“Ah, Jumin, I thought I heard the two of you enter,” her mother had paused flipping through her carefully organized notes at the countertop as she smiled at him. “You’re just in time, dear. I was about to get the afternoon meal started. Perhaps you’d like to lend a hand? Sun-Hi tells me that you’re rather dedicated in the kitchen.”

“Of course,” he nodded. 

His coat was laid back on a chair and his sleeves were quickly rolled up, not minding too much of the possibility of a mess. She offered him an apron and the two of them began to work. It was such an odd experience, but it had happened the last few times that he’d come over. Sun-Hi’s mother would offer quite often for him to help out with minimal tasks. 

If not that, she’d discuss with him her latest craft projects and his input. It was odd, he’s never had this sort of experience with his mother, Heaven forbid that woman ever treat him as one should treat their child. The memory bit at his heels every time it sprang up in conversation. 

It was hard for him to ignore when he was with someone that radiated such warmth. 

Sun-Hi’s mother had welcomed him gladly and kindly into their world as if he were a son they’d always had around. It was different, that was for sure. However, it was a welcomed change into his life that he found that he didn’t mind. It felt like he had been missing something for so long and it didn’t hit him until Sun-Hi found him and showed him just how different his life was from hers. 

Never late than ever, she’d tease him with a smile and an outstretched hand. 

“I must thank you for welcoming me into your house so readily,” he commented, quietly, as they continued to work. “It’s always so warm here.” 

“It’s nothing,” she responded. “That is to say, it’s a delight having such a fine young man in the house again. You may hear this all the time, but you’re a great son. Anyone would love to have you in their household, but I’m glad it’s ours you’ve joined. My daughter thinks the world of you and I have to say that I do as well, I’ve never had someone offer to help so quickly.”

“It's no problem. I enjoy providing some effort whenever I can. It would be impolite to not offer, even as a guest.” 

“You’re such a sweetheart, son.” 

“Ah… thank you.”


End file.
